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SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch NASA’s Roman Space Telescope
NASA has chosen SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch its next major space telescope, a wide-field observatory that should directly complement the brand new James Webb Space Telescope.
Originally known as the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST), NASA recently renamed the mission in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, a foundational force behind the Hubble Space Telescope. Fittingly, the Roman Space Telescope’s basic design is reminiscent of Hubble in many ways, owing to the fact that the mission exists solely because the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) chose to donate an unused multi-billion-dollar spy satellite – a satellite that was effectively a secret Earth-facing version of Hubble.
However, thanks to decades of improvements in electronics, electromechanics, and the instrumentation side of spacecraft and space telescopes, RST will be dramatically more capable than the Hubble telescope it resembles. And now, after a several-year fight for survival, the Roman Space Telescope officially has a ride to space – SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.
Falcon Heavy continues to be a bit of a paradox, winning contract after contract for increasingly high-value flagship launches despite having not launched once in more than three years. It’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, at this point, as the major missions that are increasingly being entrusted to Falcon Heavy are far more likely to run into significant spacecraft-side delays. At one point in late 2021, for example, SpaceX had five Falcon Heavy launches tentatively planned in 2022 – all but one of which had already been delayed several months to a year or more. Seven months into 2022, not one of those missions has launched and it’s looking increasingly likely that Falcon Heavy will be lucky to fly at all this year.
Nonetheless, the Roman Space Telescope joins an impressive manifest that includes the multi-billion-dollar GOES-U weather satellite, NASA’s ~$5 billion Europa Clipper, two modules (HALO and PPE) of a Moon-orbiting space station, NASA’s Psyche asteroid explorer, a large Astrobotic Griffin lander carrying NASA’s VIPER Moon rover, two large geostationary communications satellites, and three missions for the US military. RST is the rocket’s 11th launch contract between now and the mid-2020s.
Despite having a similar resolving power, RST’s primary wide-field instrument will have a field of view 100 times greater than Hubble, meaning that the new telescope will be able to gather magnitudes more data in a similar time. Its primary goals include measuring “light from a billion galaxies over the course of the mission lifetime” and performing “a microlensing survey of the inner Milky Way to find ~2,600 exoplanets.” A second coronagraph instrument will “perform high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy of dozens of individual nearby exoplanets.” According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, “the Coronagraph provides a crucial stepping stone in the preparation of future missions aiming to [directly] image and characterize Earth-like planets [that are] 10 billion times fainter than their host star.”
According to NASA, “the telescope’s science program also includes dedicated investigations to tackle outstanding questions [about the nature and] effects of dark energy and dark matter, as well as a substantial general investigator program to enable further studies of astrophysical phenomena to advance other science goals.”
Because RST is also focused on infrared wavelengths of light, it could be an excellent companion to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Whereas RST is a wide-field survey observatory that aims to observe and catalog billions of galaxies, stars, and planets, JWST’s far larger mirror is optimized for up-close observation of individual targets or deep gazes into tiny swaths of sky. RST could ultimately work a bit like an MRI or CAT scan to JWST’s biopsy, telling the surgeon where to look but only hinting at what it might find.
According to NASA, the ~$4.3 billion space telescope’s Falcon Heavy launch contract will cost an exceptionally steep $255 million to send the spacecraft to the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point about 800,000 kilometers (~500,000 mi) from Earth. NASA’s contract to launch the even more expensive Europa Clipper spacecraft all the way to Jupiter with a fully-expendable Falcon Heavy rocket is expected to cost less than $180 million.
NASA’s press release also claims that RST will be ready to launch as early as October 2026. A different press release from September 2021 did not mention the 2026 target and only noted that RST’s launch is scheduled no later than May 2027.
News
Sweden blocks Tesla FSD-style testing in Stockholm
It looks like FSD testing in Sweden would have to wait some time.

Tesla is putting a lot of effort into getting its Full Self Driving (FSD) system approved in territories outside North America. But while China seems to have embraced FSD fully, other countries like Sweden do not seem to be receiving Tesla’s automated driving system very well.
This became quite evident in a document from Stockholm City, which has started making the rounds online.
FSD Testing Rejected
The document, which was initially shared by X user @KRoelandschap, indicated that the Swedish Traffic Department in Stockholm had rejected Tesla’s request to start FSD testing in the city’s streets. Tesla has been demonstrating FSD in several areas across Europe, so it is not surprising that the company is also attempting to test its automated driving system in Sweden.
Unfortunately for Tesla, Sweden might prove to be a tough nut to crack. As per the City of Stockholm:
“The Traffic Office is currently working on updating its approach to automation. At the same time, the city and the office are under heavy pressure from other ongoing innovation tests. Our ambition is to actively participate in and learn from the continued development in the field of automation.
“Based on this, and in combination with the fact that the current test is the first of its kind, which entails certain risks for both infrastructure and third parties, and that it is planned to be carried out throughout the city, the City of Stockholm considers it is currently not possible to approve the implementation of the test.”


Tesla’s Other Swedish Troubles
Sweden’s FSD testing rejection is not the only roadblock facing Tesla in the country. Since October 2023, Swedish unions have been engaged in an active effort to disrupt Tesla’s operations. The unions’ efforts have been varied, with some resulting in Tesla having difficulty launching more Superchargers in Sweden. Despite this, Tesla has remained stubborn and has refused to bow to the unions’ demands.
Fortunately for Tesla, it seems like its numbers are still strong. Despite the company’s decline in several European countries, the new Model Y is starting to see strong sales figures in Sweden. In early May alone, the new Model Y became the country’s most popular electric vehicle—a notable accomplishment considering the unions’ active efforts to disrupt Tesla.
News
Tesla firmware shows new Model Y seat configuration is coming
Tesla could be adding another seating configuration beside the seven-seater to the Model Y lineup later this year.

Tesla firmware has been a great place for some to reveal what the company has in the pipeline, and a new seating configuration for the best-selling Model Y looks to be on the way.
Last week, we reported that Tesla was already hinting toward a 7-seater configuration of the Model Y in a promotional email it sent to those on its contact list.
However, firmware revealed by Tesla hacker greentheonly is showing that a new seating configuration is on the way — a six-seater:
The much rumored about 6-seater Model Y made an appearance in the firmware.
Unlikely to be China-only as some of the speculations said.Some weird “slow down to save energy, people typically drive this much slower here to save %%” nav suggestions.
— green (@greentheonly) June 16, 2025
Green says the configuration would not be available in China-only, and will be potentially for sale in other markets as well.
The six-seat and seven-seat configurations of the Model Y were available in the Legacy version of the vehicle, but were met with mixed reviews, as many complained about the lack of legroom in the third row.
This was something that was a real concern for many of those owners who needed something larger than the traditional five-seat variant, but did not want to buy the much more pricey Model X.
We’ve covered the size of that third row on several occasions.
Some owners even took the idea of having a seven-seater into their own hands:
Tesla Model Y third row seat test explores options for a comfortable 7-seat setup
Tesla did not explicitly announce a six-seater configuration of the Model Y, but Lars Moravy, the company’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, said the seven-seater would come to production later in 2025.
News
Tesla confirms massive hardware change for autonomy improvement
Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.
Tesla first introduced a front-facing camera on the front bumper with the Cybertruck.
Then, the Model Y “Juniper” received the hardware update. The Model S and Model X both received the front-facing camera with its latest update, which was officially revealed last week.
Tesla used new language with the release of the front-facing cameras on the Model S and Model X, confirming they will assist with several things, including “using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities”:
“Enhanced visibility when parking or using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”
This tiny feature on the new Tesla Model Y is perhaps its biggest addition
This is the first time Tesla has used this sort of language, as it was a completely different description with the launch of the new Model Y in January.
When Tesla launched this vehicle, it said the front bumper camera “provides a wider field of view for automatic assisted driving and advanced Smart Summon.”
Tesla switched from using cameras and sensors to only cameras with the launch of Tesla Vision several years ago. The company’s utilization of cameras comes from Tesla’s belief that Ultrasonic Sensors (USS) are not needed for self-driving efforts:
“Along with the removal of USS, we simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.”
CEO Elon Musk has said that sensors were only a crutch and that self-driving would be solved through the use of cameras:
“When your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person.”
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